Nothing Like You and I
by SquintSquad17
Summary: She just needs to talk to him, needs to see him, needs to tell him what she’s realized. And the Fitzpatricks be damned, she’s pretty sure this is the scariest thing she’s had to do in a while. Veronica goes to visit Logan, post 3x20.
1. Beginnings

**A/N**: So, it may be a _little _bit late to jump on the VM fanfic wagon, but oh well. Anyway, this is just 100 drabbles/one-shots about the show. They're all focused on Veronica, although a lot will feature other characters (yay for LoVe). Well, hope you all enjoy, and don't forget to review! The title's taken from the name of song by The Perishers (who sing the ever-wonderful Sway).

Beginnings

The first time Veronica talked to Logan Echolls, they talked about surfing.

She and Lilly were down at the beach for the afternoon, donning brightly colored swimsuits and sun-kissed shoulders, and Veronica, for all her twelve-year-old attitude, was admittedly just a little afraid of the ocean. It didn't help that Lilly loved it. And of course she did. It was mysterious and wild and beautiful and everything Veronica's best friend had always been.

"Come _on_, Veronica," Lilly called. "It's not cold, and it's not like it's scary." Her hands were on her hips, and she was standing right at the edge of the water. "Be a little crazy, for once!"

Veronica was watching from a ways away, out of reach of the waves that advanced and retreated on the sand. "Maybe in a little while," she said back. _Maybe when the water doesn't look so choppy, and I don't feel like I'm going to be swallowed whole, _she added silently.

Lilly threw up her arms in exasperation, but said nothing more. She just went further out into the water, looking for all the world like she was the happiest person alive.

"Scared of getting wet, Mars?"

Veronica's head snapped around at the sound of a voice. Logan Echolls, the new kid, was looking down at her (even at twelve, he was tall for his age). They had met once before – Duncan had introduced them after one of her soccer games – but they had never spoken more than a few words to each other.

"What's it to you?"

"Just curious," was the nonchalant reply. "You _do _know how to swim, don't you? I'm not going to be finding your body washed up on shore tomorrow, right?"

Veronica rolled her eyes and let silence fall between them. It took another moment or two before she noticed a surfboard stuck in the sand behind Logan. "You surf?" she asked, more out of desire to get off the subject off her phobia rather than out of actual interest.

"Yeah, my dad taught me." Logan paused, then laughed dryly. "It's actually one of the only nice things he's done for me; although, I'm pretty sure the only reason he gave me lessons was to promote his 'Look at me being a great father' image. A stand up guy, Aaron Echolls."

"Are you any good?" Veronica asked, not really sure how to continue the conversation after his comment.

"Is the sky blue?"

"Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?"

"I'm very good at three things, Veronica," Logan began. "The first is surfing, the second is disappointing my parents–"

"And the third is spouting off your oh-so-charming wit?"

"The third I'll leave up to your imagination." Logan smirked at her.

"Hm, well, I'll believe you're good at surfing when I see it," Veronica said, crossing her arms.

Logan shrugged, as if to say _y__our wish, my command_, and then grabbed his surfboard. Veronica watched, amused, as he walked out into the ocean without any hesitation. All was going well for Logan, and Veronica was thinking she would have to reconsider her skepticism, when a particularly nasty wave completely knocked him off the board.

Fighting laughter, Veronica watched Logan walk out of the water and back onto the sand. When he was close enough to hear hear, she smiled and called out, "Nice wipeout."

"Nice legs," Logan replied without missing a beat, smirk firmly in place.

Veronica blushed in spite of herself. "Maybe you should shrink that list of things you're good at down to two," she snapped back.

"Maybe _you _should go build a sand castle or something. You're the size of a, what, a six-year-old?"

"Well, as fun as _this_ has been," Veronica began, "I'm going to go hang out with Lilly." And without waiting for a reply, she turned on her heel and hurried back down the beach to where Lilly was now lying on her beach towel. She didn't mention talking to Logan to her best friend, but Lilly brought up the topic anyway.

"Were you just talking to Logan?" she asked, although Veronica knew she already knew the answer. "He and Duncan have started to hang out, since apparently Duncan is tired of hanging out with just Dick and us. And Aaron Echolls is his dad, and you _have _to know who that is."

Veronica knew that Aaron Echolls was an actor who made movies that she kind of wanted to pull her eyes out after seeing. She wanted to say as much, but decided against it. "Yeah, I recognize the name."

"Well, anyway, Logan's cute, right?" Lilly said. She held her hand over her eyes to deflect the sun and then looked down the shore to where Logan was. She grinned. "Yes, definitely cute."

Veronica gave noncommittal shrug. "I guess so."

Lilly turned her attention back to Veronica. "Oh, yeah, I forgot you're, like, in love with my brother, or whatever."

"Am not! I just think he's nice."

"Right. _Nice._"

"Oh, shut up, Lilly! Not everyone is as boy crazy as you."

"That's funny, not everyone is as fabulous as me, either."

And as they both burst out into fits of laughter, all thoughts of Logan Echolls were banished from Veronica's mind. For a while, at least.

--

**A/N2**: Logan's "nice legs" comment is swiped from an episode of One Tree Hill. :)


	2. Family

Family

Two days after Shelly Pomroy's party, Veronica chops off her hair.

It isn't like she plans it – it just happens. One minute she is in the bathroom cutting off a tag on a shirt, and the next, she is looking at strands of blonde hair covering the tile floor. After the first few pieces flutter to the ground, Veronica begins to snip over and over and over again, imagining that with each clip of the scissors she is cutting off the last ties she has to her old self. She cuts until the long hair that made her and Lilly look so similar, that Duncan loved so much, is completely gone.

And when she glances in the mirror, Veronica decides she doesn't really care whether it looks good or not; instead, she only cares that she doesn't look like herself. Because in that moment, she would give anything to be anyone else on the planet. She would give anything to take back everything that happened in the last year – to get back her best friend, her mother, her life.

When she sees her dad later that night, he, for his part, pretends as though he likes the haircut. Veronica knows that it's too severe and too short and too abrupt of a change for it to be completely normal, let alone stylish, but she's glad all the same when he tells her it's nice.

And it's this lie that makes her wonder if maybe people are wrong when they say that family is important because they're always honest. Maybe, she thinks, family is important because they know exactly when the truth is a little too much to take.

And this, Veronica realizes with the smallest of smiles, might just be the reason why she has always pretended to love her dad's meatloaf, even though it tastes startlingly similar to paper bags and dirt.


	3. Lunch

**A/N**: This is admittedly not my favorite thing I've written. I just wanted to get something out. It's been a while. :)

Lunch

Once upon a time, back when Veronica had long hair, her dad as sheriff, and very few cares in the world, she had eaten lunch with Lilly. Logan and Duncan joined them most days, but no matter what, for the past two years, she had eaten with Lilly.

They had a routine, too. Every day they sat at the same table, surrounded by the same 09ers and as far away as possible from the PCHers. And regardless of whether they bought lunch or used their Pirate Points, Lilly and Veronica would always get two chocolate chip cookies to eat. It was a bad, sugar-filled habit, and you could say what you wanted about the Neptune High cafeteria ladies, but those cookies were God's gift to teenage girls everywhere.

And then Lilly had died. And then she'd been alone.

But no one really talks about stuff like that. You know, when people die, everyone just says there's the big whole in your life, but they don't tell you about how it's so hard to break the habits. Like how Veronica still automatically started to dial Lilly's phone number when something went wrong, or how she still half-expected to see Lilly getting out of Logan's car when he pulled up at school. Or how it was so damn difficult to do something as stupid as go from buying two cookies at lunch to just one.

When she cuts Wallace down from the flag pole, she really isn't expecting him to sit with her. Veronica is actually expecting him to run away, to shout that she's ruining his chances at popularity by saving him. Instead, he plops down at the lunch table, looking for all the world like all he wants to do is eat his sandwich next to her.

A few days later, when she spies Wallace already sitting at what has somehow become 'their' table, she impulsively buys two cookies when she's in line. Veronica hands him one without a word and watches, amused, when he takes a huge bite.

"Easy there, tiger," she mutters. "Choking on a chocolate chip cookie would be a bad way to go."

Wallace shrugs and shoves the rest of the cookie into his mouth.

Veronica smiles.

It's nice not to be alone for once.


	4. Fire

**A/N:** If you can't tell, this is set in _Weapons of Class Destruction._ And can I take a moment to comment on how freaking awesome the song – Momentary Thing – that plays in the background during that scene is? Yeah, this is me commenting on how awesome it is. Enjoy - it's short. :)

Fire 

When Veronica kisses Logan on the cheek, she means it as a thank you. A thank you for saving me, a thank you for not leaving me alone with someone who could have been a murdering psycho. She's more rattled than she actually wants to admit, and it's just supposed to be _harmless_. It's supposed to be _safe_.

But after everything that has happened to her in the past year, Veronica doesn't really know why she's so surprised when it turns out to be anything but harmless. Because when he grabs her arm and pulls her back to him, it's a lot of things, but safe is definitely not one of them. Because kissing Logan isn't simple and _nice_. He's not Duncan, and she's sure as hell not the same girl she used to be. And this kiss, it's spine-tingling and electric and God, does it feel good and why hasn't she done this before and why did it end?

He lets her goes, and Veronica damn near runs off, but she'd be lying through her teeth if she says part of her isn't disappointed when he doesn't pull her back again.

She knows she's playing with fire, but she's entertaining the idea that she doesn't care at all if she gets burned. Maybe some things are worth the risk.


	5. Friends

**A/N**: The next two drabbles are going to be connected, just so y'all know. And, as always, please review! I always appreciate the feedback – good or bad. :)

5. Friends (1/2)

It takes Veronica two days to react to what happened in the cafeteria. It's not that she hasn't thought about Piz and Gory and Logan, it's just that, well, with what's going on with the election, she hasn't really had time to process the events. The way she sees it, though, she doesn't have too many different courses of action to choose from at this point. She can break up with Piz, or she can stay together with him and finally commit to being a good girlfriend. Neither of them _necessarily_ involve Logan – it's just that she has to make a final decision. (Or that's what she tells herself, anyway. But it's not really the truth, because with Veronica, everything involves Logan in some way or another.)

It takes Veronica two days to work up the courage to knock on the door to the room Piz and Wallace share. At this point, she knows what she's going to do, but it doesn't mean she's actually ready to do it. After knocking lightly on the door, it swings opens to reveal Piz with a look that seems to communicate his surprise at seeing her. They haven't talked in two days – unless you count the hey they shared on the way to class, which she doesn't – and she immediately feels a little uncomfortable.

He lets her in as she says, "Hi." She smiles weakly, but at least it's an attempt.

"Long time no talk," Piz returns, mirroring her smile. They sit down on the end of his bed and he waits a moment before adding, "So, what's up?"

She gives a half-hearted shrug. "Oh, you know, the usual."

"So plenty of prying into people's personal lives and taking pictures of salacious rendezvous?"

"Funny, that's what it says on my business card under job description."

Silence falls between them, but then they both start to speak at once.

"Look, Piz," she says just as he says, "Look, Veronica."

They share a small, slightly awkward laugh before they look up at each other.

"You can go first," Veronica says finally.

"Well, I guess… I just wanted – I –" He pauses and takes a breath. "I'm not stupid, you know. Maybe a little idealistic, but not stupid."

"And I'm not the heir to a three million dollar fortune. Your point?" She means her comment to come across with a joking tone, but there's the tiniest edge to her voice and they both hear it. Veronica shifts uncomfortably, struggling to figure out where Piz is going with this.

"I know why you're here," Piz says after a moment, shrugging one shoulder. "I know how you feel about Logan, and I always have. I just, I hoped that maybe you'd start feeling that way about me at some point."

"Piz, I–"

"No, just let me get this out," he says. "I think you're right: We should just be friends. You haven't said that yet, but I know that's why you're here. And I know you aren't trying to hurt me on purpose, Veronica, but I can't be in a relationship where I'm the only one who cares this much."

"I care about you, Piz," Veronica says, not unkindly. "I do. And I'm sorry." She tries not to think about the fact that she's not even bothering to deny the way she feels about Logan. It'd be a waste of breath to try, and Piz would know she's lying.

"But you're not sorry enough to stay with me, and that's fine." He grins a little self-deprecatingly, but all in all, he looks like he's really okay with this. "We can still hang out; I mean, since I'm Wallace's roommate, it's not like you can just avoid me. We can be friends."

"Friends," she repeats softly, her mind conjuring up pictures of Duncan after their break-up, and then images of Logan after theirs. Veronica sighs. "I don't know if you really want me as a friend. As friends go, I'm kind of a sucky one. The prying into personal lives and all."

"I think I can handle it," Piz says.

Veronica waits for a second and then stands up from the edge of the bed. Piz does the same and a silence falls between them, but it's not nearly as uncomfortable as it was before. They both shuffle a few steps toward the door before Veronica finally says something. "Thanks for, you know, being really nice about this." The words sound lame, even to her own ears, so she says, "And I'm sure by this time next week you'll have a new girl - the perks of hosting a kick-ass radio show." She lowers her voice and adds conspiratorially, "I hear the chicks really dig that."

He agrees with her, and Veronica leaves shortly after that, feeling something of a weight lifted off her shoulders. _Friends_. She can handle that. And all in all, she considers her break-up with Piz as much of a success as something like that could ever be. But for some reason, she doesn't think the next conversation she has to have is going to go quite so smoothly.

Nothing with Logan Echolls ever does.


	6. Why?

**A/N**: This is kind of long, so, yeah. Also, I'm really sorry if the end feels OOC, because it might just be kind of wishful thinking on my part. But please review, whether you like it or not. Concrit is always welcome. :)

6. Why? (2/2)

Despite the fact that they run in fairly similar circles, Veronica manages to avoid talking to Logan for another few days after she breaks up with Piz. She knows that waiting won't make the conversation any easier, but she's holding out for the hope that maybe, just maybe, he'll come talk to her first. (In the back of her mind, she wonders if she's thinking this because she keeps remembering how Logan always came back for Lilly.)

But when he doesn't even bother to call (and he _has_ to know she and Piz have broken up by now), Veronica finally works up the courage to go talk to him, despite the fact that it makes her the slightest bit nauseas even thinking about it. She drives to the Neptune Grand with reminders that she's faced down the Fitzpatricks and with the refrain of _Cowboy up, Mars _echoing in her head.

When she walks inside, she's hit with the abstract thought that the problem with staying in Neptune is that every single place holds memories. Some are good, some are bad, most have a slightly tragic tint, and all are hidden in the corners of places she can't avoid.

Trying desperately not to think of any other time she's been in this lobby, she goes to the elevator and presses the up button. And Veronica's pretty sure the elevator ride up to Logan's suite has never felt so long. The seconds tick by slowly, each moment that passes reminding her of all the reasons she doesn't want to be here. And the worst part is, she's not even sure why she's this nervous. She's not expecting him to take her back or going to his room with any intention of kissing him (although she does have a gift) – she just needs to talk to him, needs to see him, needs to tell him what she's realized.

And the Fitzpatricks be damned, she's pretty sure this is the scariest thing she's had to do in a while.

The elevator finally _dings!_ and the door slides open to reveal an empty hallway. Veronica walks toward Logan's room and knocks on the door, trying to fight the urge to run away. No one answers at first, and all of a sudden, she's in high school again and it's the day after Alterna-Prom and she's half-expecting Kendall Casablancas to let her inside. (She still has the room key tucked safely in her wallet, but she has the funny feeling that using it now wouldn't be the best idea.) But finally, Logan comes to the door and opens it slowly. If he's surprised to see her, he hides it well. His mouth curves into a smirk as he leans against the door frame, watching her.

"Hmm, that's funny. I thought I ordered a pint of ice cream, not a pint-sized menace. The room service really isn't what it used to be." When Veronica doesn't offer an explanation as to why she's there, he continues. "So, to what do I owe the distinct pleasure of a house visit from Veronica Mars?"

"Piz and I broke up." The words come tumbling out of her mouth before she can stop them, and damn, that was _really _not how she wanted to start this – this _conversation_, or whatever the hell it is. And she hates him for just _standing _there, looking for all the world like he regularly entertains ex-girlfriends in the doorway of his hotel room.

"I heard." Logan waits a beat and then says, "And you're expecting me to A) lend you a shoulder to cry on, B) take you back in a rush of gratitude, or C) offer you ice cream and tell you you're better off without that jackass?"

Veronica's lips turn up in a ghost of a smile. "Try D) none of the above."

"Ah, well, I never was that good at multiple choice questions anyway," Logan says with a sigh, stepping away from the door and leading her to the couch inside. When they're both sitting down, he asks, "Then why are you here, Veronica? Need a favor? Need someone to accuse of murder?"

She thinks he's _mostly _kidding about that last part, but there's just the slightest touch of bitterness in his voice that makes her stomach curl.

They fall into a vaguely uncomfortable silence, and Veronica fidgets slightly on the couch, trying to figure out how to begin. Logan, of all people, should recognize how hard admitting she was wrong is for her, but it's not like he's about to make this any easier for her. (Although he had been on his best behavior since she;d come inside, so maybe she should give him _some_ credit.) Finally, she settles on, "I just wanted to talk. And give you this."

She shoves the little present that's been hanging by her side towards him. She's done a shoddy job wrapping it, and God, it's not like her to give presents anyway. She just, well, she saw it at the store one day back when they were "on again," but never had the chance to give it to him.

He shakes the package lightly. "You gave me your pony?"

"Absolutely not," Veronica says, mock-offended. "The last pet you had died in approximately three days."

"It's not my fault that the damned fish refused to eat."

"Yeah, sure." She chances a small smile, but even their familiar back-and-forth hasn't done much to calm her nerves.

With a snort and a quirked eyebrow, Logan unwraps the gift, casually tossing the tissue paper over his shoulder. It takes him a while to react, and Veronica chews at the corner of her lip as he regards the stuffed bee with the words "Bee Mine" stitched across it.

She's not really sure what she's expecting, but what he says next is: "Did you at least win it through some display of ring-tossing ability?"

"Dart-throwing, actually," Veronica replies without missing a beat. "But I figure it's in the same family."

Logan laughs softly, but abruptly, his face turns serious. "Why are you here, Veronica?" he asks again, sounding more tired this time. He set the stuffed bee on the table beside him.

"I – I don't really know."

"Well," he begins, "the last time I saw you, Gorya Sorokin was bleeding on the cafeteria floor threatening me with death, so maybe it has something to do with that?"

"Yeah, there was that whole thing." She eyes the light bruises on his knuckles, wondering how much worse Gorya looks. "And guess that brings us to…" Veronica pauses for a second, taking a breath. "I - I'm sorry, Logan. I know it doesn't fix anything, but I just wanted to tell you that I know whatever happened was my fault, too." She waits for a moment and then adds, the words blurring together, "And I broke up with Piz because I kept thinking that I would like him as much as I should because he's funny and smart and nice and –"

"_Normal_?" Logan interjects.

"Well, yeah."

"I think that we've established we can never be normal."

Veronica sighs. "Which is why I'm here. Because you understand that." Her voice is so quiet that she wonders for a moment if he even heard her.

A flicker of emotion flashes through Logan's eyes, but Veronica doesn't really want to think of what it means. "I'm not – it's not that simple."

"I know. I just, I miss you." Veronica took a breath. "And it's not like I can promise I'll change, but it's like we're together even when we aren't. And it turns out that the bearable amount of pain you kept rambling on about is actually kind of really difficult to bear."

"What are you trying to say, Veronica?"

'"Bee Mine'?" she says shakily, trying (and failing) to adopt a light-hearted tone.

Logan glances once at the forgotten stuff animal before looking at her for what feels like the longest time. Then, it what is clearly his attempt at matching her blasé tone, he says, "Have you ever let me be anything but?"

There's a brief moment where they share a smile, and then, all of a sudden, they are kissing and she doesn't really know who started it or how she expects them to make it work but it doesn't really matter because this is Logan, finally Logan and not Piz, kissing her and it feels so damn good and right and maybe this time everything will be okay and –

"You know," Logan says, pulling away from her, "this is surprisingly like option B."

"What?" she asks, slightly breathless.

"B) Take you back in a rush of gratitude."

"Shut up," is her only reply before she kisses him again.

--

**A/N2**: Too fluffy? Lemme know.


End file.
